1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to air cannons of the type used for removing material deposits from the walls of industrial vessels and other bulk material handling devices, such as kilns used in the cement and paper industries. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a gas channeling device that is capable of selectively directing blasts of gas from an air cannon to alternate bulk material handling devices or alternate locations of a bulk material handling device.
2. Related Art
Air cannons are commonly used for removing the buildup of deposits on the walls of bulk material handling devices, such as kilns. An air cannon generally consists a compressed gas storage container and a release valve. A compressor may be attached to the compressed gas storage container for adding compressed gas to the storage container. The released gas is channeled to bulk material handling device. Although referred to as air cannons, the compressed gas is not necessarily always air and may be other gases such as nitrogen or carbon-dioxide.
To reduce the number of air cannons required in a given industrial center, various gas channeling devices have been developed for selectively directing the blasts of gas discharged from an air cannon to alternative locations or bulk material handling devices. One such gas channeling device is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication Number 2006/0070722 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/956,741), entitled Air Cannon Manifold, which is hereby incorporated into this application by reference and in its entirety. A disadvantage of such devices is that they utilize multiple valves or moving parts, which reduce reliability and increase the costs of such devices. Another disadvantage of such devices is that they disrupt the flow of gas blasts passing therethrough and therefore diminish the effectiveness of the gas blasts. The gas channeling device of the present invention overcome these disadvantages.